BEIJING, March 23 - A weekend riot by hundreds of ethnic Tibetans was a spontaneous response to tough Chinese security measures, activists and an expert said on Monday, and more destabilising outbursts are likely in coming months.Beijing has flooded Tibet and ethnic Tibetan areas in neighbouring provinces with security forces, cut off some Internet and mobile phone services and closed the region to almost all foreigners in March, a month of sensitive anniversaries and a controversial new holiday.But the heavy security presence and threat of harsh punishment during a "strike hard" campaign against separatism has not been enough to contain simmering resentment about Chinese rule, including anger at controls on religion and limited economic opportunities.Police detained almost 100 monks after hundreds of people rioted and attacked a police station in an ethnic Tibetan part of the western province of Qinghai, state media said on Sunday.
The incident was just the latest in a string of isolated but recurring outbursts of unrest, including a monk who set himself on fire and a bomb thrown at a government office."Protesters know they could be arrested and beaten up for shouting slogans or distributing leaflets near police stations or barracks, but they are not afraid. It's a sign they have given up all hope," a Beijing-based source with contacts in Tibetan areas told Reuters.More than 60 people had been arrested in one small corner of Sichuan province since February alone, the source added."The situation is very tense. There have been arrests almost every day," he told Reuters, asking not to be named because conditions in Tibetan areas are highly sensitive and he was not authorised to talk to the media.

Reuters[Monday, March 23, 2009 14:20]